E Village, Court Ave, or W Gateway? (Des Moines, Brooklyn: apartments, lofts)

[iMissIA]

Hi everyone,
I am planning a move from Brooklyn, NY to Des Moines this summer. What is the best area of downtown for my husband and me?

1. We are 27. We don't have kids, but we would like to adopt a dog.
2. We have lived in Chicago and NYC for about 10 years. We love walking (not driving) to restaurants, stores and bars. We love being near people (but not TOO loud of a street).
3. We also love to walk (with our future dog) for exercise and bike outdoors.

I see that there is a western gateway area with a park and a library, a central area around court ave, and the east village between the river and the capitol.
What do you think?

Also, if anyone has any experiences with the individual loft/condo buildings (or reliable hearsay!) I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

[DMRyan]

I would have to take East Village. It's close enough to dining, nightlife and river, but not right in the thick of the party district like Court Avenue. There's a good mix of living options, from subsidized apartments, market rate apartments, and new/historic condominiums. It just feels more like a more complete urban neighborhood already.

Court Avenue is the city's nightlife hub, so expect some noisy crowds and traffic during the evening. The pluses are that it's very close to the river and access to the metro area trails is at your door step, you can walk right out to one of the best outdoor farmer's markets around every Saturday during season, and you're near 4th Street, which is quite possibly the most eclectic little street in the entire city.

The Western Gateway has fewer living options right now, but is on the cusp of some pretty substantial redevelopment. You'll find mostly apartments at this point, but don't leave out a search of 10th Street, which is very close to the Western Gateway and has more housing options. The Western Gateway is being filled in with corporate campuses, so it doesn't have the edge or small business options the other districts have.

I may suggest a few sites that will be more helpful to you on your search for downtown housing, as they focus on this very topic:

Living Downtown Des Moines | Come Share Your Experience

absolutedsm.com - Des Moines Development

[MastermindDSM]

Check out the Brownstones on Grand. They are steep but have small fenced yards where your dog can play. 1 block from the Riverfront, 3 from Events Center, 2 from Civic Center, 4 from Restaurants and Bars. I believe the YMCA will no longer have transitional housing so most expect this to be a prime development area in the next few years.

Definitely check out the downtown living link provided above.

[RonnieJonez]

Probably Grand/Ingersoll Area. If you're used to downtown in those cities, you're gonna get bored. Court Ave only offers decent nightlife if you're 22 at the oldest as well. All the "big box" shopping is out in the suburbs, and you'll be closer to that. There is a powerful push to shop only downtown if you live there, but realistically, most people do need to goto WalMart or Best Buy on occassion. It wouldn't surprise me if there are people in DSM who refuse to shop at those stores, just to prove how urban DSM is.

[DMRyan]

Does it ever get old putting words in people's mouths and making assumptions against an entire group of people that never said anything that you claim?

[RonnieJonez]

That's why DMjuice has 2 page spreads every week telling you to buy a Downtown Gift Card.

You know there are people downtown that probably look down on anyone who shops at WalMart or Target, just to prove how "urban" they are. I've seen them on your forum a million times.

[Luke9686]

A person who has lived in New York for 10 years, and wants a similar environment could care less about Wal-Mart or Applebee's. Obviously they enjoy a different, more local type neighborhood. What's wrong with wanting to live downtown, and also wanting to have a few amenities near you??

That being said, downtown will be much different than anywhere in NYC, but it's a lot better than one might think.

[iMissIA]

Thanks for the great advice! I definitely like the East Village, but from my couple of visits there it was hard to tell if it has much going on yet. (Also, in NYC one of my favorite neighborhoods is the *original* East Village--I can't decide if that is a good thing or not!)

I agree that 4th street is great, too... is the nighttime racket really that bad? Maybe if your condo faces away from the main street?

Has anyone heard anything (besides what the realtors publish) about the 4th Street Condos, Whiteline Lofts or E5W? I know the last is not finished yet but is supposed to be by spring.

[iMissIA]

Re: the discussion about big box retailers. This concern is actually valid for my family and others who might be moving to Des Moines from bigger cities. In Brooklyn I do not shop at Wal-Mart, partly because there are no Wal-Marts in the NYC city limits.

In Des Moines I want to support local business as much as possible, but I'll probably use some big chain stores out of necessity. Even in Brooklyn, you would be hard-pressed to avoid chain retailers completely, unless you are rich and have a lot of spare time to shop.

However, if I was moving halfway across the country just to shop at BestBuy, I could buy a cheaper place away from downtown (or a warmer state altogether!).

[SharpHawkeye]

Originally Posted by iMissIA

Thanks for the great advice! I definitely like the East Village, but from my couple of visits there it was hard to tell if it has much going on yet. (Also, in NYC one of my favorite neighborhoods is the *original* East Village--I can't decide if that is a good thing or not!)

I agree that 4th street is great, too... is the nighttime racket really that bad? Maybe if your condo faces away from the main street?

Has anyone heard anything (besides what the realtors publish) about the 4th Street Condos, Whiteline Lofts or E5W? I know the last is not finished yet but is supposed to be by spring.

I hear you. From what I understand, the recession did help to KO some of the little guys who had made the East Village what it was (East Village Books, ZZ Records, etc.)

One thing you have to consider is that the East Village is still very much a developing neighborhood. As late as ten years ago, it was still all body shops and urban decay. It doesn't have the 50-odd years of (modern) neighborhood history that the East Village in New York has.

So, yeah, it's still got a ways to go. But I can see that as being part of the fun of living there--seeing the neighborhood change and improve every day. Consider it getting in on the ground floor, so to speak.

I know we have to walk a fine line with promoting other websites on here, but I think there are some folks at absolutedsm who may be able to answer some of those more specific questions for you.